The Job Read Free

who was secretly working for the FBI. In Nick’s profession, his status within the underworld came from his crimes and the word of mouth they generated among his peers and, to a greater degree, those less skilled than he. His status was important because it determined the quality of crew he could recruit and the buyershe could line up on those rare occasions when he wanted to sell what he stole.
    “You need my help to catch him,” Nick said.
    “No, I don’t. Catching bad guys is what I do,” she said. “I caught you, remember?”
    “You just love reminding me of that.”
    “I certainly do,” she said, helping herself to another shrimp.
    Kate called Jessup on the way to LAX and told him she believed Nick was being set up. The fact that Nick wasn’t on the run, and that she’d found him in L.A. on a big-bucks yacht belonging to a former mark, made it much easier for her to convince her boss that she was right.
    “I’m relieved to hear Nick didn’t do it,” Jessup said. “We’ve had a lot of success with your covert operation. I’d hate to shut it down now. I want you to find the joker who did this, and do it fast. The Nashville field office is expecting you and will give you all the resources you need.”
    Kate caught a nonstop flight to Nashville at 2:30 P . M . and spent the four-hour flight thinking about the stolen Matisse.
    In her experience, there were two motives for stealing a masterpiece. Money and ownership.
    Sometimes the thief stole the painting because it was worth a fortune. This kind of criminal frequently acted on impulse and had no clue how to sell the stolen art. Guys like this usually got caught very quickly. If they didn’t get caught, they’d end up stashing the painting in their garage, tossing it in a dumpster, oranonymously returning it. Someone like that wouldn’t go to the trouble to masquerade as Nick Fox.
    Other times the thief stole the painting intending to immediately ransom it back to the owners or the insurance company. This was perhaps the most common approach, and it often succeeded for the thief. Collectors were often more desperate for the paintings than they were for justice. Once the owners had been contacted, they would make the payoff and keep the FBI in the dark until they got their painting back.
    Art was also stolen for collateral. Kate knew that cash-strapped crooks stole enormously valuable paintings to use as collateral in drug and weapons deals. An unframed canvas was like a truck full of gold bars, only much lighter to carry and easier to move across borders. Paintings used like this could bounce around the black market for years without ever ending up on anyone’s wall. When they did turn up, it was as an unexpected find during police raids on gangs, terrorists, or drug and arms dealers.
    And there were the made-to-order heists. Some outrageously wealthy and powerful people had shopping lists of famous works of art they wanted for their personal, very private, collections. Once they got their hands on a masterpiece, it would never be seen again. Kate and Nick had recently brought down someone like that in an elaborate sting.
    The second motive, and one that was rarely encountered, was ownership. The thief stole the painting for his own collection. Nick was sometimes that kind of thief.
    And now that she thought about it, she realized Nick was a unique thief with a third motive. Nick stole because it was fun and exciting, and because he was good at it.
    So what was the motive for this heist? The thief had stolen the painting like an amateur acting out of greed, taking something valuable because it was within easy reach. But masquerading as Nick Fox showed a high level of sophistication, and a knowledge of the players in the big leagues of crime. That didn’t fit the greed scenario.
    If the painting was stolen for ransom, then the museum had already heard from the thieves, or they would soon. She’d have to keep the key administrators under watch for any